wemburywaves

On this day in Wembury, 9 August 1986

The Western Evening Herald reported a special homecoming at St Werburgh’s Church when June Hodgson, a former Wembury resident now living in Albany, Western Australia, returned to open the parish flower festival. Her visit marked one hundred years since the last major restoration of the church in 1886, a milestone the parish marked with displays and celebrations.

June Hodgson’s family link gave the occasion deeper historical interest. Her grandfather, Major Edmund Lockyer, had spent part of his early life in Wembury before serving in the British Army. Lockyer later became a significant figure in early Australian colonial history, best known for leading the 1826 expedition that established a military outpost at King George Sound and for formally raising the British flag there, an act seen as securing British sovereignty over what would become Western Australia.

The article noted that his granddaughter’s return brought a sense of connection between the parish’s past and present, linking the quiet village of Wembury to the wider history of early colonial Australia. The Vicar, Rev Anthony Macey, welcomed her warmly as she helped unveil the festival displays.

At the time of her visit, St Werburgh’s was undergoing a 1986 restoration, including wall repairs and the recasting of the church roof, timed almost exactly a century after the 1886 works June’s ancestors would have known.

Source, Western Evening Herald, 9 August 1986.